Creating the Blueprint Resources Text. .. Wilson and Goldfarb. Theatre: The Lively Art , 7th edition: Chapter 4. Outside reading. .. Aristotle. Poetics . Translation by S.H. Butcher, London, 1907. 1. What are the playwright's tasks? 1. Select the specific subject matter of the play, 2. Determine the focus and emphasis , 3. Establish the purpose , 4. Establish the point of view , 5. Develop the dramatic structure , and 6. Create the dramatic characters . 2. Generally, what is the subject matter of a play? Aristotle defined drama as "the imitation of men in action." There for, the subject matter of all drama is "man," the human being. It is the playwright's responsibility to select a specific human being, and to focus on this person's story and character. 3. What is the purpose of drama? To entertain, to teach, to question, to excite, to move, to thrill, to frighten. .. Answering the question: "What is theatre for?," Jeffrey Sweet, a playwright on the Theatre Mailing List , posted. .. Theatre is for a lot of things. Entertainment , of course. It's also a social event at which groups of people jointly participate in creating / witnessing images of their culture and so see these images in a new way. It's also for play-- to provide an outlet for people to have a good time in a structured way. It can also be for education-- to make vivid, for instance, arguments and controversies which would look less vital summarized in historical, philosophical, sociological or anthropological texts. ( Jeffrey Sweet, 1999 ) 4. What are Aristotle's Six Elements of Dramatic Structure ?

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Aristotle 1. Plot, 2. Character, 3. Thought (or theme), 4. Diction (or dialogue), 5. Music (or rhythm), and 6. Spectacle (scenery, lights, costumes, special effects). Noted scholar Jon Berry has an interesting theory about Aristotle's Six elements of Drama . While Aristotle ranked them in a specific order, Dr. Berry claims that in our pluralistic society, different genres of plays tend to emphasize different elements. Sample plays he chooses to use to illustrate his idea has Agamemnon ranking Plot highest, Hamlet as ranking Character highest, and Death of a Salesman ranking Plot and Character equally high. Academics can debate how much any given production stresses a given element, but it makes sense to me that some

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